My name is David and I believe in making sense of the complex, especially when it comes to people.

I ask questions, listen deeply, probe and provoke.  Together we discover hidden patterns and blind spots that bring consciousness and purpose to their lives. I challenge people to take new actions and be empowered to make the differences they seek.

I’m an Executive Coach who helps people transcend their challenges, live into their potential and invent the lives they yearn for. With my partners we support leaders and their teams in bringing that consciousness to the entire organization and all those they touch.

 

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Some Things Never Change

David’s coaching career began when he was a kid, although he didn’t know it at the time.  He was the guy friend’s came to when they were stuck, because he had a knack for seeing creative solutions.  His gift for understanding people and curiosity about why we do what we do eventually led to a Master’s Degree in clinical psychology.  David says he became a licensed therapist only because the field of coaching didn’t exist at the time.  His “respectful irreverence” continues to be an asset coaching leaders in all walks of life.

From Couches to Coaching

Whereas the therapy model is problem focused, David’s orientation was always on the potential yet to be realized.  That same quest led him through a diverse range of successful careers, from selling real estate to program director for a psychiatric hospital chain to a thriving private practice before becoming a coach.  The common thread was always about discovering and leveraging potential people didn’t know was there.

David discovered the fledgling field of life coaching when he was a speaker at a national conference.  A recognized expert in attention deficit disorders, his focus was on empowerment, not disease.  Coaching was not about fixing people but creating new futures.  He knew he found his home in coaching.  The combination of David’s in-depth people skills, entrepreneurial experience and business acumen were a perfect fit for coaching people to overcome perceived obstacles and achieving true success.

How David’s Qualifications and Career Experience Serve You:

David works with successful people who aren’t satisfied.  There are opportunities or potential not being realized and they know it.  But they don’t know the answer, and they also don’t know the question!  Otherwise they would hire a consultant, then know what to do and do it.

David’s formal training as an ontological coach is invaluable when delving into “what you don’t know you don’t know,” those frustrating blind spots thwarting that move to the next level.  The inquiry of an ontological coach is about who you are being that has you do what you do and get what you get.  This shift leads to quantum leaps rather than incremental improvements.  But this new mindset that stirs innovation also challenges your sense of reality and can be uncomfortable.  Fortunately David’s unique combination of skills and experience allows him to quickly establish a safe and trusting relationship that facilitates the entire process.

Another byproduct of David’s eclectic experience are the benefits in his clients personal lives alongside their business successes, as attested to in countless testimonials.  As one C-suite executive commented:
“David did a great job of coaching, which (to me) means finding a balance between focusing on the immediate goal at hand and recognizing the bigger lessons that life is trying to teach you along the way.  So, with David, you find yourself bouncing from what seem like very esoteric ideas to very practical applications of those ideas in real-life situations.”

In David’s words “Why leave the best of who you are in the parking lot?  You’re one person with one precious life.  Live it fully wherever you are.”   This is why David’s clients get what they want, and also what they need.

Six Things About David That Might Surprise You:

1. David is a sculptor.  The artistic kid in school, by high school he was told “to put away childish things” and he didn’t rekindle his artistic spirit until becoming a coach.  Appreciating the value of the whole brain approach he used with his clients, he took classes at the local art museum to stretch his own boundaries..
2. David’s wife Jill is an Occupational Therapist and also a fiber artist who blends her work with fused glass.  They encourage each other and have collaborated on many unique pieces.  Both have had exhibits in galleries and museums.  Creative collaboration is in their blood.
3. David has had Multiple Sclerosis since 1998.  He jokes that the odds of a male over 40 getting MS are less than the earth being wiped out by an asteroid.  He saw this as a sign to be a better steward of this one precious life.  Fortunate to be only mildly affected (mostly tingling and weakness in his hands) David remains a staunch advocate for finding a cure, personal empowerment and the power behind the mind-body connection.
4. Peter Block is one of David’s favorite authors.  When his oldest son Dylan was in college David gave him a copy of The Answer To How Is Yes.  Little did he know it would empower his son to switch majors to be a poet.  When Dylan couldn’t find a job in publishing he started his own online literary journal and interviewed more Pulitzer Prize winning authors than any other literary magazine in the country.  David never forgot Dylan’s words, “The answer to how is hell yes!”
5. When he was a therapist a patient suggested David be on the board of directors for an organization that feeds the homeless.  Reluctant, he was told he would experience a level of gratitude in his life he had never known before.  Over ten years later he is still on that board, and in gratitude.
6. David is shorter than he sounds on the phone.  Or so he’s been told.

David’s Education:

David began his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at the State University of NY at Albany, where he volunteered as a peer counselor.  He completed his degree at the University of California at Riverside where he helped create their peer counseling center.  Graduating with high honors he went to North Texas State University in Denton.  Working with rats was not as stimulating as people so he left for greener pastures.  He completed his Master of Arts degree in clinical psychology at Antioch University in Santa Barbara CA where he put himself through school selling the real estate business he had built up plus selling a few houses to his professors.

Why You Can Count On David To Guide You Through The Belly Of The Whale:

Mythologist Joseph Campbell describes a moment where you are uneasy about the way you are going about life, a “call” to a journey of self awareness taking you through “the belly of the whale.”  As the name implies, it’s not pretty.  But you return transformed with a new perspective, and new possibilities for actions and outcomes.

Campbell says we need at least 2 things to make this journey:  a safe and sacred space that makes the journey possible, and a guide or coach to allow the process to go forth.  This is not about giving information, but guiding, sharing and lending new eyes with which to see.

Most coaching works on the surface, focusing on goals and accountabilities that the present just a little different from the past.  David’s clients experience transformational learning, those “Aha moments” that are the source of innovation and futures distinct from the past, what were once only possibilities.

David has been through that journey in both roles.  He walks his talk and is passionate about people living lives they love.  A businessman, therapist, coach, learner and parent, David is uniquely qualified in supporting people to get what they want and also what they need.  He has coached leaders from NASA scientists and CEOs to artists and entrepreneurs.

He encourages people who hear their call to make this call and have a conversation to explore new possibilities.

Executive Summary

Coaching Experience:

• 1998 – Present:  Executive Coach
• Coached senior executives for global organizations in Moscow, the United Kingdom, British Virgin Islands, and the United States representing industries from finance to energy to high technology.
• Coached senior executives at NASA with emphasis in leadership, effective communication and onboarding.
• One of a select group of coaches assigned to coach NASA’s Mid-Level Leadership Program (MLLP).
• One of a select group of coaches representing Realestatecoach.com, coaching top producers in the real estate industry.
• Nationally known speaker and workshop presenter on coaching and Attention Deficit Disorders.
• Trainer for Limitbusters Coaching & Training Academy.
• President of the Space Coast Chapter of the International Coach Federation (ICF), 2001 – 2002.

Psychotherapist Experience:
1985 – 2002

• Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Private Practice:  individual, group, family and conjoint therapy for adolescents through adults.
• Nationally recognized expert in Attention Deficit Disorders.
• Program Director for inpatient psychiatric and outpatient substance abuse treatment facilities.
• Adjunct Faculty at Seminole Community College, teaching regular and dual enrollment General Psychology.
• Supervision of group homes for dependent children.
• Psychotherapist/teacher at two holistic residential treatment centers for adolescents.  Design, implement and coordinate a diverse range of therapeutic programs and interventions.

Real Estate Experience:
1978 – 1985  Licensed Agent, FL & CA

• Residential real estate sales, new and resale.
• Recipient of numerous outstanding achievement awards.

Education & Training:

• Trained in Integral Organizational Leadership at Integral Institute week-long seminars led by Ken Wilber & staff founders in Boulder, CO, in 2004 and 2006.
• The Newfield Network Graduate Program in Ontological Coaching, Coaching in Business Program, various Mastery in Coaching workshops.  2001-2003
• Landmark Education Corporation:  Multiple personal & professional development programs, 1995-2003
• Target Training International DISC/PIAV Assessment training, 2001.
• Limitbusters Coaching Academy, workshops and training 1998 – 2000
• International Coach Federation Conferences 1999 – 2003.
• The Act of Leadership, Participant & Co-facilitator, 2004
• M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Antioch University, 1985
• B.A. High Honors, Psychology, University of CA, 1977

Professional Organizations and Affiliations:

• Member local ICF chapter.
• Board of Directors, MS Centers of FL Foundation, local chapter.
• Board of Directors, Daily Bread – feeding the homeless.

Personal Data:
Happily married to an Occupational Therapist/Fiber Artist with two great adult sons.
Other interests:  personal/spiritual development, sculpture, public speaking, hiking, camping, biking, reading, disc golf, traveling, writing and philosophy.

Contact David

What clients are saying about David